I voted for the very first time Tuesday, November 6, 2018, in the midterm elections. I turned 18 the year before but became aware of and interested in the midterms when I applied for my temporary driver’s permit in May of the same year. The clerk asked if I was currently registered to vote.

In 2004, I escorted Missy Misdemeanor Elliott—the multi-hyphenated talent, Grammy Award-winner and Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee—to the polls to vote for her first time.

As chairman of the National Urban League’s board of trustees, the board and I are pleased to present to you “Getting 2 Equal: United Not Divided,” the 2019 edition of the State of Black America®.

Our founder, Will Keith Kellogg, believed in the democratic process driven by ordinary people collaborating to solve the problems that faced children and their families. He called it cooperative planning, intelligent study and group action – cooperative leadership on behalf of the whole.

It is with incredible honor that I write these words as the 45th lieutenant governor of the state of Wisconsin.